Eh. I once read a book titled “Steelheart” with a super-villain of the same name, so it kind of reminds me of that.
I know you later say it may not be, but having a similar story arc is something kind of frowned upon in the MCU. Kevin Feige, especially with Spider-Man, wishes to tell “a new story,” both from the comics and from previous films.
I mean, I don’t follow the Iron Man fan base, like, at all, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say something good about Ironheart.
We’re trying to use logic in a world where wizards, alien gods, sticky people, and purple stone collectors exist… this won’t go well…
Personally, I don’t think that that’s how the MCU takes the Iron Man legacy. I bet that they won’t even be looking for a replacement for Stark for at least Phase 4, maybe even this entire saga. It was made kind of clear in Endgame and FFH that, with Tony being such a huge loss to the Avengers, things are going to have to be different, and if they just fill that gap as soon as possible, it’s not going to look good. I know you’re talking longterm, but in the meantime, I wouldn’t be surprised if there is no Stark replacement for a while.
When there comes time to be one, I bet that we will already have a likely candidate. And then again, I doubt I would even be someone random. With Stark gone, many candidates will try and probably fail to clear that void, and I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them is Shuri. I think this would be an excellent choice, because she’s already a child-like genius, and she doesn’t really seem to have much to do. Plus, while maybe not going all-out Ironheart, she could easily reference the role in design or in quotation.
Anyways, I think Marvel should let us explore the characters without Stark for a while before hiring his successor, just so that we can see where that takes characters like Peter and Sam and Rhodes.